Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

The publication procedures used in the Kastamonu Journal of Communication Studies serve as the foundation for the impartial and respectful development and distribution of information. The processes put in place in this direction are directly reflected in the quality of the authors' work and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed studies exemplify and support the scientific method. At this point, all process stakeholders (authors, readers, researchers, publishers, reviewers, and editors) must adhere to ethical principles. The Kastamonu Journal of Communication Studies does not charge any fees to authors for the application, review, or publication processes. Articles are subjected to double-blind peer review by at least two reviewers before being accepted for publication in the Kastamonu Journal of Communication Studies. The article evaluation process takes between 15 and 30 days on average. Furthermore, using the iThenticate or Turnitin plagiarism detection programs, it is proven that the articles have never been published before and do not include plagiarism. Articles with a similarity rate of more than 15% are not considered for publication. The Kastamonu Journal of Communication Studies Editorial rejects studies that contain plagiarism.

All stakeholders are expected to bear the following ethical responsibilities within the scope of the publishing ethics of the Kastamonu Journal of Communication Studies. The ethical duties and responsibilities stated below have been prepared as open access, taking into account the Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines and policies (COPE). Flowcharts serve as the foundation for publication ethics. Please click here for more information on this topic. https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts

Authors
• The authors declare that any information they provide during the application process is accurate, and they make no misleading, incorrect, or incomplete statements.
• The author must ensure that the article submitted will contribute to the academic field.
• Studies must be original and based on research.
• The paper should not be submitted to multiple journals at the same time, and it should not have already been submitted to another publication.
• It should be ensured that other authors whose names appear in the article have contributed to the research. The contribution rate declaration of the researchers, support and acknowledgment statements, if applicable, and a conflict statement should all be provided at the end of the publication.
• If the authors need authorization from any institution concerning their research, they must disclose all relevant information to the institution in a thorough and non-misleading manner before beginning the research and must acquire formal consent from the institution.
• No requests for changes in authorship, such as adding or removing authors, should be made to the journal after the application has been submitted.
• Authors are responsible for keeping track of their work's data. If necessary, the Editorial Board may seek data from the authors in the course of the evaluation process.
• It is assumed that the authors who submit articles to the journal have read and accepted the publication and writing principles of the journal, and the authors are deemed to have committed to what is expected of them by these principles.
• Authors should avoid "slicing". According to the Council of Higher Education Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive, "slicing" is defined as "presenting the results of research as separate works in the evaluations of associate professorship exams and academic promotions by inappropriately dividing the results of the research into parts and making multiple publications without citing each other."
• Citations and references should be complete.
• The Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive, which is also stated by the Council of Higher Education, should be considered by authors.

Files/Documents Requested from the Author(s) During Article Submission

1. Full Text: This is the file that contains the complete version of the work to be sent. Personal information about the author(s) should not be included in the full text.

2. Title Page: This is the file that contains the author's personal information (institution, title, contact information (e-mail and phone number), and ORCID ID).

3. Copyright Form: This is the file that certifies that all copyrights to the submitted work have been transferred to the Kastamonu Journal of Communication Research. During the submission, a sample form is included in the submission files.

4. Similarity Report: This is a report on the similarity of the work obtained through the iThenticate or Turnitin plagiarism detection programs. Articles with a 15% similarity rate (excluding references) will not be evaluated.

5. Authorship Contribution: This is the file that declares the authors' contribution type and contribution rates in studies with multiple authors. If the work is by a single author, the work will be identified as such and uploaded to the system in a signed format.

6. Ethics Committee Certificate of Approval: "Ethics Committee Permission" is required for all types of research using qualitative or quantitative approaches that require data collection from participants via surveys, interviews, focus group work, observation, experiments, and interview techniques. For studies that require ethics committee approval, authors must provide relevant documents and upload them to the system along with their studies. If the study is one of those that does not require ethics committee approval, it is expected to be declared as such and uploaded to the system in a signed form.

7. Conflicts of Interest Statement: If there is a conflict of interest in the study, it should be stated; otherwise, it should be declared that there is no conflict of interest and signed and uploaded to the system.

*Also, if any, the Contribution Statement of the Researchers, Statement of Support and Acknowledgement, and Statement of Conflict of Interest should be included in the full text of the study, before the references.


Reviewers
• Reviewers should act with the understanding that they are the primary determinants of the academic quality of the article that will be published in the journal, and they should assess this with the responsibility of improving academic quality.
• Reviewers should only accept to review the papers if they have the relevant competence to make an appropriate assessment, can maintain the confidentiality of blind peer review, and can keep the details of the article confidential at all times.
• Any information regarding the evaluated article should never be shared with others, even after the article review process.
• The reviewers should act impartially and objectively; the ethnic origin, religious beliefs, political attitudes, and gender differences of the authors should not affect the impartiality of the evaluation.
• Reviewers should only evaluate the accuracy of the content of the articles and their compliance with academic criteria. The fact that the opinions in the article differ from those of the reviewer should have no bearing on the evaluation.
• Reports from reviewers should be objective and quantifiable. Insulting, disparaging, and accusing language must be avoided at all costs.
• In their evaluation reports, reviewers should avoid using shallow or ambiguous language. In evaluations with poor outcomes, the deficiencies and flaws on which the result is based should be highlighted concretely.
• In the circumstances of article acceptance or rejection, reviewers should provide explanations under academic etiquette.
• Reviewers should complete their evaluations within the time allowed to them. If they are unable to review, they should notify the journal within a reasonable time frame.

Click here to access the PDF document named “Reviewer’s Guide” prepared by COPE. http://publicationethics.org/files/Peer%20review%20guidelines.pdf

Editors
• When considering whether to publish an article, editors must ensure that it is original and contributes to the scientific literature.
• Editors should accept manuscripts that will contribute to the relevant fields indicated in the journal policy into the evaluation process.
• Editors send articles while keeping in mind the editors' and reviewers' areas of competence, and they encourage objective and independent judgments.
• There should be no conflict of interest or relationship between editors and accepted or rejected articles.
• Editors have complete responsibility and authority to reject or accept an article.
• Editors should act if they suspect misconduct, whether a paper is published or unpublished, conduct an objective investigation, and share the results.
• Editors make certain that any errors, inconsistencies, or misdirections in articles are corrected.
• Editors must keep the names of the reviewers and authors confidential.
• It is the editors' responsibility to ensure that the preliminary review, refereeing, editing, and publication processes for papers submitted to the journal are completed in a timely and proper manner.
• Editors should prioritize academic concerns and criteria when accepting articles to the journal.
• Editors protect the intellectual property rights of the published articles and defend the rights of the journal and the author(s) in the event of an infringement. Furthermore, they take the required precautions to ensure that the published articles do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of other publications; they conduct an authenticity-similarity check.

You can use https://publicationethics.org/files/2008%20Code%20of%20Conduct.pdf to access the PDF document titled “General Duties and Responsibilities of Editors” prepared by COPE.

ETHICS COMMITTEE APPROVAL
Please arrange your candidate articles following the ULAKBİM (TR Index) criteria by sending them in the order listed below. Our authors must supply the necessary paperwork for their studies that require ethics committee approval and upload them to the system along with their studies.

1. "Ethics Committee Approval" is necessary for all types of research conducted with qualitative or quantitative approaches that involve data gathering from the participants using surveys, interviews, focus group work, observation, experiments, and interview techniques.

2. It should be indicated in the articles whether ethical committee approval and/or legal/special permission is required. If these permits are required, it should be indicated explicitly from which institution, when the authorization was received, and with which decision or serial number.

3. "Ethics Committee Approval" is required for research that involves the use of humans and animals (including material/data) for experimental or other scientific objectives.

4. If the study necessitates the use of human or animal subjects, an international declaration, guide, or other applicable documents should be declared.

5. "Ethics Committee Approval " is required for human clinical trials and animal investigations.

6. According to the law on personal data protection, "Ethics Committee Approval" is required for retrospective studies.

7. Authors should include a statement in their articles stating that they adhere to Research and Publication Ethics.

8. The intellectual and artistic works used must be in accordance with copyright regulations.

* Researchers who are not members of the university can also apply to the Ethics Committees in their respective regions.


Ethical Rules

In the ethical duties and responsibilities adopted by our journal, the principles published by the "Higher Education Institutions Regulation on Ethics in Scientific and Research Publication" and the "Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)" are taken into account.